The first settlers in this corner of the globe appeared in prehistoric times. The immigrants who came from Siberia at that time began to explore these northern islands. Around the year 1250, a new wave of colonists came here, representing the Tule people (ancestors of the Eskimos). However, due to the severity of the climatic conditions of this area, the island finally became depopulated by about the middle of the 18th century.
What part of the world does Ellesmere Island belong to, and what is it? This and much more is presented in the article.
Geographical position
Where is Ellesmere Island located? It is the northernmost in Canada and belongs to the Kikiktani region.
This is the Nunavut Territory, which is the Canadian Arctic Archipelago located east of Axel Heiberg Island. Ellesmere is part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Its eastern part borders with Greenland. Repeatedly on the territory of Ellesmere Island found traces of animals of prehistoric times.
Characteristics of the island
The area of Ellesmere is 196,236 square meters. km It is Canada’s third largest island and tenth in the world. Its highest point is the peak of Barbo (2616 meters) - the highest in the province of Nunavut. It should be noted that Cape Columbia is Canada’s most extreme northern point. Coordinates of Ellesmere Island: 80 ° 10′00 ″ s. w. 75 ° 05′00 ″ s d.
In the natural landscapes of the beautiful island in its own way, 3 details prevail - completely bare rocks, snow fields and glaciers. Almost the entire coastline is represented by fjords, dividing the island into several separate parts - lands named Elsmere, Grant, Sverdrup and Grinnell. About 1/3 of the island surface is covered with glaciers.
In these places, the duration of the polar day and polar night is approximately 5 months.
Vegetable world
In places where Ellesmere Island is located, nature is represented by arctic tundras and deserts. Most of the island is part of the North American ecological region of the polar tundra (classification - World Wide Fund for Nature).
Although the main territory of the island is free of ice in summer, woody vegetation does not grow here, since such a period is not enough for this. Summer is cool and short, and the earth thaws only a few centimeters in depth. Mostly vegetation is represented by small foci - only in those places where there is protection from the wind. You can meet poppies single-stemmed and other types of herbaceous plants.
The largest green oasis is the area near Lake Heisen, on the banks of which sedge, creeping willow, heather shrubs and saxifrages bloom densely in the summer.
Animal world
In comparison with the plant world, the wildlife of Ellesmere Island (Canada) is more diverse. There are polar hares, musk ox, non-migrating south Piri caribou deer (smaller and lighter in color than mainland) and other animals.
Like other Arctic islands in Canada, Ellesmere is home to the Melville Island Wolf, which is a subspecies of the common wolf. It differs in smaller sizes and light gray or white fur.
In the summer, several species of birds nest on the island. This is a white owl, the tern is polar, and of the settled ones, the tundra partridge and bunting.
Due to the harsh climate and the scarcity of vegetation, the issue of survival for animals living in these places is very acute. In 1988, to preserve this fragile nature, part of the island, which includes Lake Heisen, was declared a national park.
Brief History
As noted above, the first inhabitants on the island of Ellesmere appeared a long time ago (in prehistoric times). However, it is believed that he was discovered by the explorer from England, William Buffin in 1616. He made the first description of the island. And the name was given to him in 1852 in honor of the famous English statesman, traveler and writer Francis Egerton (life period - 1800-1857) (Earl of Ellesmere).
Off the coast of Ellesmere, on the small island of Pim, in 1883-1884. Adolf Greeley members of the Arctic American expedition wintered.
One curious fact should be noted here. In August 2005, a huge block of ice that fell into the waters of the Arctic Ocean separated from the ice shelf on Isles, located near Ellesmere. After this incident, the ice shelf almost ceased to exist.
Climatic conditions
The climate of Ellesmere Island is polar arctic. It has very cold winters, air temperature can reach up to -50 ° . The temperature of the summer months rarely exceeds +7 ° C, but on some days it can reach +21 ° C.
The total annual rainfall is approximately 60 mm of rain, snow and condensation. Snow cover is very thin.
Due to constant frost, the process of moisture evaporation is difficult, therefore there is very little rainfall and low humidity on the island.
Population
In 2006, despite the large territory of the island, only 146 local residents lived here.
There are 3 settlements on it - Gris Fjord, Eureka and the northernmost settlement on the planet with permanent residents - Alert.
Paleontology
The island of Ellesmere is also interesting in terms of paleontology, where paleontological remains were found in its western territories. They are fossils of organisms whose age is approximately 3.7 million years. This is the totality (biocenosis) of the boreal forest (taiga) of the Pliocene era with mammals (hare, bear, beaver, camels, dogs). At the time of that era, the average annual temperatures in the North American Arctic were much higher than now.
The dominant species of trees in the Pliocene taiga was the Greenland larch. Other tree species - birch, alder, spruce, thuja and pine.
And the volume of precipitation in that period was much more significant and amounted to about 550 mm per year. The fauna of those times was very similar to the fauna of East Asia of the same era. Fossils and other animals were found here, including the great wolverine, shrew, marten, weasel, ancient horse (plesiogippippion), badger, deer, etc.
In conclusion, some interesting facts.
Paleontologists (scientists at the University of Colorado and the Academy of Sciences in Beijing) have confirmed that on the island of Ellesmere Canada 50 million years ago (Cenozoic era) there was a non-flying bird gastornis. This is a rather large individual living in the Late Paleocene and Eocene. In height, it reached about two meters, and its mass was approximately 100 kg. Its remains were discovered by scientists in the 70s of the last century, but they have been studied in detail recently.
The only evidence that the bird lived on a Canadian island is the only bone found (toe phalanx). It is practically a copy of the remains of gastornis discovered in Wyoming. The latter date from the same time.
According to scientists, the environmental conditions of Ellesmere Island of those times resembled the current cypress swamps located in the southern United States. Also, fossils have been preserved on the island, indicating that it was inhabited by alligators with turtles, and primates with tapirs, as well as large rhinoceros and hippo-like mammals.
Previously, in the same area, researchers discovered the remains of another anseriform bird - Presbiornis, which, unlike gastornis, could fly.